Canada - Quebec

Canadian Flag

"What would you like to drink sir", said the stewardess. Usually I fly Ryanair, so not used to this, I panic and say: "Err....Orange juice please". I quickly turn around and shriek:" Wait!!! Give me that instead. I sit back and chuckle to myself as I sip on a Canada Dry on my way to Canada.

Montreal Skyline

The island of Montreal is the largest city in Quebec, the French speaking part of Canada. A big city and no stranger to tourism, the people are surprisingly friendly. My first three experiences were: a free bus ride from the airport ("Welcome to Canada"), a free bottle of water because the guy in the café told me it was too hot for refilling my decrepit bottle, and the free use of internet in a mobile phone shop.

Berenice from the hostel

Biosphere from Expo '67

The highlights of wandering the streets of Montreal for 10 hours each day were walking on the Formula One race track, with the nearby Biosphere and a sneaky visit to the Casino for free coffee; climbing Mont Royal for a good skyline view of this North American metropolis; and soaking up the atmosphere of the worlds first Gay Olympics (Outgames 2006).

View from Mont Royale

Notre Dame Cathedral

I made a retreat from the city and crossed the mighty St Lawrence River to check out the native scene.

Native take on the flag

Kanawake is the name given to the Native Indian Reserve across from the island. My friend Hans, while working at his sailing club gave me his bike to cycle around the whole reserve. I suppose that I half expected to see them living in Teepee huts and traveling around on horses. But they all live in houses and have cars, same as you and me.

Totem Pole

The huts in the picture below are merely a recreation of a Native dwelling along with the Longhouse where the tribal leaders would get together for deliberating important matters.

Longhouse

The Mohawks are a league within the 5 nations (later 6) of the Iroquois. Wandering through their land, I did not see any Mohican hairstyles, nor experience any hostility as suggested in the anti-white sign below.

Mohawk License Plate

The locals I spoke with were a friendly, peaceful bunch, mostly just selling their tobaccos and whatever other products make them competitive in their somewhat autonomous, tax exempt territories.

Not exactly representative, but interesting nontheless

Ask Hans where he is from and he will say:"I am Quebecois -Not Canadian"!!. Of the 7 million people in his province, over half would put themselves into that category. Despite what the people in the ROC (Rest of Canada) think, the plight for Independence is not a dead cause.

Hans - Defiant but determined?

Hans drove me to Quebec City to visit the impressive fortified old town, and just in time to catch the annual festival “Nouvelle France” celebrating the history of the first European settlers in North America.

Nouvelle France celebrations

I was forced to try their only national dish POUTINE. The first time I heard this I thought it was a swear word. Rather it was a bowl of chips with cheese and some weird gravy all mixed up. Sounds yucky, but was actually nice.

Chateau Frontenac

Old Town Quebec Moonset

In the area we visited some waterfalls where there was a spot for diving off and swimming in the little pool. From the highest fall (40ft) you could see the whole valley stretch out into a canyon.

Cliff jumping into waterfalls with Hans

Before leaving Montreal I went sailing with Hans in the St Lawrence River. I was lucky and had winds of 40 knots. To keep the balance I had to trapeze on this 17 foot Catamaran (hanging off, half in the water but strapped on to a wire).

Parliament (kind of like Big Ben and Westminster)

A friend of his, Rebecca, was driving down to Ottawa, so she gave me the grand tour of the nations capital. Although Canada is supposedly a bilingual country, I would soon learn that I wouldn’t be hearing French again when I left this town.

Canadian Mountie

Though it's the capital, the place is relatively tiny, meant only to serve its purpose as political adjudicator. A guided tour of the old Parliament (almost a replica of Big Ben and Westminster) saw me in and out of the Commons and the Senate. At night they did a sound and light show projected onto the actual building telling in 40 minutes the whole history of Canada. Towards the end there was even a mentioning of Bryan Adams and Celine Dion.

With Rebecca in front of Outaouais river and the Colline

Further down in a place called Kingston, Hans was supposed to be racing in a Regatta where lake Ontario feeds the St Lawrence.
He didn't make the race but we both got to ride with Mark, who had a speed boat and let us jet around with him all day monitoring the race.

Winners of Kingston Catamaran Reggata

Later that day Mark would drive me for some hours south toward Toronto and to my first of many experiences of the Hospitality of complete strangers in this absolutely wonderful country. He took me in for the night with his family, fed me and dropped me off the next morning on the QEW. I was about to hitch to Niagara Falls.

Quebec Plate